Federal Research Investment Act (S. 2217) Presents Opportunities for Scientists to Communicate with Elected Officials
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to undertake an 18-month study of the entire process by which all federal agencies evaluate the success of their research and development funding, including efforts "which are unsuccessful or unproductive." The White House Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) must identify all civilian programs that fall into the unsuccessful category and report them to Congress. Programs that remain in the category two years in a row would be targeted by OMB for restructuring or termination.
The academy study was supposed to begin October 1, but will be rescheduled when FRIA emerges from the House and the inevitable House-Senate conference committee. PHIL BERARDELU
PUBLIC AFFAIRS FORUM An analysis of public policy issues and how they affect MRS members and the materials community...
Federal Research Investment Act (S. 2217) Presents Opportunities for Scientists to Communicate with Elected Officials For the last 40 years national security has provided a reason for the federal government's support of research and development efforts. Over the years, even "civilian" agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health have benefited from this battle cry. However, the cold war is over and the global economic war is starting. Fortunately, the current U.S. economic situation, although tenuous, provides the United States with a balanced budget for the first time in 29 years. What is lost on many people outside of science, engineering, and technology circles is that high-tech has been one of the driving forces behind the country's recent economic success. One has to only look at the front page of the newspaper to see how the World Wide Web—based on new, faster computers and hardware—is changing the way many industries do business. Faster, easier, and more efficient data manipulation and storage technology allows access to information that was unthought of even five years ago and advances in materials, modeling, and fuel cell technology lead us toward safer, less expensive, more efficient, and environmentally cleaner vehicles. None of this would be possible without federally funded R&D. In fact, half of the economic growth since World War II and one-third of the United States' current economic output are due to high tech. However, at the start of Fiscal Year 1998 Congressional Research Service out-year predictions had federal funding for R&D declining in real dollars. Something is wrong with this picture. One of the most painful lessons that I learned during my year as a Congressional Fellow in Sen. Jay Rockefeller's (D-W.Va.) office was that scientists and engineers do not spend much time explaining to the government or the public what they do, why they do it, or why someone besides another scientist or engineer should care. This is detrimental to maintaining or increasing support for science and technology. Elected officials are unlikely to put their name and energy behind issues important to the scientific community if they do not under-
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stand what scientists do; why it is important on a local
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